Plan your visit to CLAY, offering a seasonal menu of fresh local fare in one of the city's most beautiful spaces. Try our newly-launched spring menu today!
Ai Weiwei is one of the world’s most influential artists and human rights activists, and one of China’s most formidable critics. Ai Weiwei: Unbroken features a selection of the artist's most iconic ceramics, and marks the international debut of new work. See it before it closes on June 9!
SMASH: Nourish is a night of bold artwork, delicious cuisine, refreshing drinks, and invigorating experiences. The Gardiner Museum Young Patron Circle's annual art party sold out last year, so get your tickets early!
The Gardiner Museum is among the few museums in the world focused on ceramics, and is one of the most important specialty museums internationally. It houses approximately 4,000 objects, including European porcelain, ceramics from the Ancient Americas, Chinese porcelain, Japanese porcelain, and contemporary ceramics. Search the collection online!
Everyone can love clay! Become a Friend at one of the world’s great specialty museums and enjoy the benefits, including unlimited admission, invitations to exhibition previews and special events, discounts on lectures and clay classes, and more.
Focus Gallery
Creamware refers to a large family of earthenwares covered with cream-coloured glazes that were produced in England and continental Europe during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Creamware was a revolutionary product in its time because it possessed many of the same practical and aesthetic qualities as porcelain, but could be produced for a fraction of the cost. For this reason, it quickly emerged as the ceramic tableware of choice for middle class consumers.
Competition from creamware producers put great pressure on many English and European porcelain factories, helping to force some out of business and others to modify their products. For such a seemingly simple ceramic, creamware had a profound social and economic impact that resonated even in modern times.
This exhibition showcases a collection of creamwares that were donated to the Gardiner Museum in 2008 by long-time members Jean and Ken Laundy. It is the first time that many of the objects have been publicly displayed.